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Translation · head to head

Gengo vs memoQ

Gengo logo

Gengo

Translation

Human translation marketplace and API, priced per word from $0.06, owned by Lionbridge since 2019

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
memoQ logo

memoQ

Translation

Adapt your communication to local cultures with memoQ

From
€2904/year
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Gengo it is not a fit for specialised legal, medical or literary translation, since the crowdsourced model is built for higher-volume, lower-complexity content.; memoQ only Starter tier has published pricing; Essential, Professional, and Enterprise require sales consultation
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Gengo and memoQ actually diverge.

Attributes where Gengo and memoQ differ
AttributeGengomemoQ
Starting priceOn request€2904/year
Pricing modelPer wordsubscription

Identical on both: free tier (No), platforms (Web), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Translation).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Gengo

  • Standard and Pro quality tiers
  • Developer API
  • No minimum spend
  • Crowdsourced translator network
  • Bulk file upload
  • CMS and platform integrations

Only in memoQ

Nothing recorded that Gengo does not also cover.

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Gengo

  • An e-commerce seller translating product listings into multiple languages without a minimum spend requirementnot memoQ
  • A company integrating the Gengo API into a content pipeline to automatically route text for human translationnot memoQ
  • A support team needing occasional human-translated responses without committing to Unbabel’s enterprise minimumnot memoQ
  • A publisher needing straightforward, transparently priced human translation for shorter, lower-stakes contentnot memoQ

memoQ

  • Maintaining standardized terminology across marketsnot Gengo
  • Detecting inconsistencies and terminology issuesnot Gengo
  • Translating multiple projects simultaneously with teamnot Gengo
  • Managing translation memories and term bases centrallynot Gengo

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Gengo

  • It is not a fit for specialised legal, medical or literary translation, since the crowdsourced model is built for higher-volume, lower-complexity content.
  • Quality consistency depends on which individual translator from the crowdsourced network is assigned, which can vary more than a dedicated agency relationship would.
  • Turnaround, while fast for its category, is still meaningfully slower than a machine translation API, since every job requires a human to complete it.
  • Since being acquired by Lionbridge in 2019, Gengo’s product direction is now set within a much larger localisation company’s priorities rather than as an independent business.
  • Per-word pricing, while transparent, is still substantially more expensive per unit of content than a machine translation API, so it is a poor fit for translating very large volumes of low-stakes content.

memoQ

  • Only Starter tier has published pricing; Essential, Professional, and Enterprise require sales consultation
  • Higher tiers require minimum PM license requirements (1+, 5+, 10+)
  • Linguist subscription scaling not transparent for plans above Starter

Pricing, plan by plan

Gengo

On request
  • Standard$0.06/month
    • Human translation, $0.06 per word starting rate
    • No minimum spend or setup fee
  • Pro$undefined/month
    • Higher-quality tier, rate varies by language pair and content type
    • Human translation with additional review

memoQ

€2904/year
  • Starter$2904/year
    • 1 Project Manager license
    • 5 Linguist subscriptions
    • Translate unlimited content
  • Essential$null/custom
    • 1+ PM licenses
    • 10 Linguist subscriptions per PM
    • Contact sales for pricing
  • Professional$null/custom
    • 5+ PM licenses
    • 10 Linguist subscriptions per PM
    • Contact sales for pricing
  • Enterprise$null/custom
    • 10+ PM licenses
    • Custom Linguist subscriptions
    • Contact sales for pricing

Which should you pick?

Choose Gengo if

  • You need standard and pro quality tiers.
  • You also want developer api.
Gengo review

Choose memoQ if

Nothing in the data separates memoQ from Gengo on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.

memoQ review

Questions people ask

Is Gengo or memoQ better?
Neither clearly leads. Gengo starts at On request and memoQ at €2904/year, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Gengo or memoQ?
Gengo starts at On request and memoQ at €2904/year.
Does Gengo or memoQ run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
What is Gengo best used for?
Gengo is most often used for an e-commerce seller translating product listings into multiple languages without a minimum spend requirement, a company integrating the gengo api into a content pipeline to automatically route text for human translation, a support team needing occasional human-translated responses without committing to unbabel’s enterprise minimum, a publisher needing straightforward, transparently priced human translation for shorter, lower-stakes content. Of those, an e-commerce seller translating product listings into multiple languages without a minimum spend requirement and a company integrating the gengo api into a content pipeline to automatically route text for human translation are not what memoQ is typically brought in for.
What can Gengo do that memoQ cannot?
Gengo covers Standard and Pro quality tiers, Developer API, No minimum spend, Crowdsourced translator network.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Gengo: Is Gengo machine translation or human translation?

Human translation. It should be compared with Unbabel, not with Google Translate, Microsoft Translator or Amazon Translate, which are machine translation APIs.

memoQ: What is memoQ's entry-level pricing for translation management?

memoQ Starter plan costs 2,904 euros per year (approximately $3,194 USD annually). This includes 1 Project Manager license and 5 Linguist subscriptions with unlimited translation capacity.

Source
Gengo: Is there a minimum spend?

No, Gengo publishes per-word pricing with no minimum spend or setup fee, unlike Unbabel’s enterprise-gated rate structure.

memoQ: Does memoQ charge based on translation volume?

No, memoQ explicitly states no volume-based pricing model. Users can translate as much content as needed within their subscription tier without additional volume charges.

Source
Gengo: Who owns Gengo?

Lionbridge, a larger localisation and AI data services company, acquired Gengo in January 2019.

memoQ: How do I get pricing for memoQ's Enterprise plan?

memoQ's Enterprise tier requires minimum 10 Project Manager licenses and custom Linguist subscription arrangements. Customers must contact memoQ sales directly for pricing details.

Source
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